How to Get Executives to Sign Off on Call Accounting
February 03, 2015
By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor
Turning in your budget requirements for the year sometimes means you have to take an educated guess on things you may need later that you’re not sure about right now. For instance, you know what it took to run your department last year, but are you adequately covering your bases for new regulations, additional demands or new technologies that could help productivity?
Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know, which means we have to go back and ask for it later. It’s not always fun, but if you can put together a strong case as to why it’s a good investment, the approval is very rewarding. Call accounting is one of those areas that you may not have known you needed at budget time, but is proving to be valuable for others in your space. To continue to drive that competitive advantage, it may be time to get on board.
Fortunately, call accounting solution provider, ISI (News - Alert) recently posted a blog on the topic. Borrowing insight from TEMIA, the blog highlights the importance of executive buy-in and involvement. And, when you’re talking about cost reductions and improved efficiencies, finance executives are sure to take notice. If your organization is governed by Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), internal controls must demonstrate adequacy in recognizing revenue and expenses.
Telecom Expense Management (TEM) program align well with SOX as they help to automate the reporting and storage of telecom expense financial data. Proven TEM platforms not only recognize areas of needless spending and errors that drive up costs, but also identify real-time data capture that can increase revenue opportunities. When technology is communication enabled, real-time updates and information transfers help to minimize bottlenecks, conflicts and delays.
Technology executives also tend to get involved as they have a vested interest in anything that needs to integrate with, sit on or talk to their network. Plus, if the technologies proposed promise a more effective corporate communications network, their use of resources to support communications is reduced, allowing for more time, effort and resources on other initiatives. If they can also add happier users to the mix, it simply makes the IT executive look like the hero.
It’s a great step forward if you can communicate the benefits of call accounting across the enterprise as it not only keeps all departments accountable, it also allows for better expense tracking. If you can take it to the next level with TEM, executives across the board have direct insight into how communications as a whole affects their bottom line. When technology advancements demonstrate how to improve this bottom line outcome, approvals are much easier to secure.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi